Premier Helen Zille’s colonialism tweets forced her out of the Western Cape legislature on Thursday.
During a debate on the impact of gang violence on service delivery in the Western Cape‚ Zille protested to speaker Sharna Fernandez when EFF MPL Bernard Joseph said gangsterism was a result of colonialism‚ “which the premier says is a good thing”.
The premier said: “No one may wilfully and knowingly mislead this house. And anyone who doesn’t know by now what I actually said is wilfully and knowingly misleading this house.”
While taking her seat‚ Zille then shouted “uyaxoka” (“you are lying”) to Joseph‚ prompting a complaint from ANC MPL Pat Lekker.
Zille was asked to withdraw her remark but said her tweets had been clarified numerous times. ANC chief whip Pierre Uys asked Hernandez to force Zille to withdraw‚ because according to the house rules it is unparliamentary for a member to accuse another member of lying.
Zille would not budge but told Fernandez she would leave the legislature “if it would help you”.
Her departure meant the ANC could not get answers from Zille to questions it wanted to ask about the drought‚ the number of white males in the Department of Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture and communication services in her department.
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